Decorative fabric



w0t.'8,1968. Y FPOHL mL 3,404,647

A u DECORATIVE FABRIC I' Filed Dec. '7, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i 7 119mm? F wm@ i INVENTOI 91214419@ P42? By M d dz/ 5%@ j N Mv Oct. 8, 1968 F. PoHL. ETAI. 3,404,647

DECORATI VE FABRI C Filed Dec. '7, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2` United States Patent O 3,404,647 DECORATIVE FABRIC Frantisek Pohl, Vclav Skla, and Jii Haluza, Brno, Czechoslovakia, assignors to Vyzkumny Ustav Pletarsky, Brno, Czechoslovakia Filed Dec. 7, 1965, Ser. No. 512,178 Claims priority, application Czechoslovakia, Dec. 8, 1964, 6,870/ 64 8 Claims. (Cl. 112-405) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A decorative textile fabric which comprises a sheet of fibrous fieece and a fibrous, fiat, pattern-forming material contrasting with the appearance of the sheet of fibrous fleece superimposed on one face of the sheet of fibrous fieece and partially covering the latter. Rows of thread stitches are substantially uniformly distributed over the entire surface of, and passing through, the sheet of tibrous fleece and the superimposed fibrous, fiat, patternforming material and so located that the rows of thread stitches will simultaneously attach the fibrous, flat, pattern-forming material to the sheet of fibrous fieeee and improve the coherence of the sheet of fibrous fleece.

The present invention relates to a decorative fabric and, more particularly, to a decorative fabric wherein, on a non-woven sheet a decorative effect is produced by superposed fiat fibrous material, contrasting with the non-woven sheet and attached to the same.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a decorative fabric wherein a decorative effect is obtained by securing planar pattern-forming elements to a coherent non-woven base layer.

The planar pattern-forming elements may, for instance present the realization of an artists inspirative idea and the creation of the decorative fabric of the present invention can fbe somewhat compared in its artistic aspects with the painting of a picture. In the painting of a picture the painter selects-in accordance with his artistic intentions-colors and places the same on canvas. In producing thedecorative fabric of the present invention the colors are replaced 4by the pattern-forming fibrous elements which are adhered to the non-woven base layer to form thereon a substantially planar decorative pattern or artistic configuration.

According to a preferred embodiment it is an object of the present invention to form such above-described decorative fabric so that the planar pattern-forming fibrous elements and the underlying non-woven fabric jointly form a substantially planar decorative surface.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a further reading of the description and of the appended claims.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention contemplates a decorative fabric, comprising, in combination, a non-woven sheet of fibrous material, tibrous pattern-forming fiat material contrasting with the appearance of the sheet of non-woven fibrous material superimposed on at least one face of the sheet of fibrous material partially covering the same, and fibrous attaching means for attaching the fibrous pattern-forming fiat material to the non-woven sheet of fibrous material.

Thus, in accordance with the present invention, fibrous material arranged to form a planar artistic or decorative conguration is attached by stitch-knitting, fiber interlacing or needling to a coherent base layer consisting of a non-woven fabric, for instance a fieece or felt. The planar material which is secured to the tieece or the like is a fibrous pattern-forming fiat material which will contrast with the appearance of the non-woven sheet of fibrous ice material to which it is secured, for instance by a difference in colors. The planar fibrous pattern-forming material will comprise at least one fibrous pattern-forming element consisting of yarn, thread, tow, slubbing, fieece or felt, or textile sheet of suitable configuration. The contrasting effect of the fibrous pattern-forming elements or material is created primarily by differences between the color of the underlying non-woven sheet of brous material and the superimposed pattern-forming material.

In accordance with the present invention it is possible to provide a great variety of highly complex patterns or decorative effects while still maintaining a substantially planar surface of the decorative fabric. By using suitable brous pattern-forming elements, any desired kind of abstract, figurative or scenic motives can be produced within a wide range of colors, for instance so that the final product closely resembles tapestry.

The decorative fabric -of the present invention can be produced at relatively very low cost as compared with the costs of producing decorative textile fabrics by conventional processes.

The decorative textile fabric of the present invention is particularly useful for the decoration of large-interior spaces, for instance in hotels, theaters and the like, and the decorative fabric of the present :invention can be easily produced on conventional and thus available machinery.

Broadly, the -base layer to which the fibrous patternforming fiat material is secured may also consist of woven, knitted or non-woven fabrics as Well as of foam sheets, paper, foil and the like. However, non-woven fabrics, such as fibrous lieece, made of natural or man-made fibers or their blends, are preferred because of the good adhesion of such non-woven fibrous sheet material to the fibrous pattern-forming material. The dimensions of the base layer -of non-woven fibrous sheet material can be easily adapted to the desired final size of the decorative textile fabric.

The fibrous pattern-forming substantially flat or planar elements or materials may consist of natural or manmade fibers and may be shaped by hand or by employing various tools, such as shears. For instance, figurative portion may be made from fleece by cutting or by handforming the fleece to the desired shape.

The pattern-forming fiat material or textile sheet structure may also consist of a portion of woven, knitted or non-woven fabric or the like which has `been cut to the desired configuration.

The color combination of the decorative fabric according to the present invention which is formed by the color of the non-woven sheet of fibrous material and the color or colors of the pattern forming fiat fibrous material which is superimposed and adhered to part of the surface of the non-woven sheet of fibrous material, may be chosen in any desired manner in order to give the intended decorative or artistic effect.

Individual portions of the .fibrous pattern-forming fiat material may `be arranged on the supporting non-woven sheet of fibrous material side-by-side either in Contact with or spaced from each other, so as to preferably substantially blend with the uncovered portion of the nonwoven sheet of fibrous material into a substantially uniformly planar or fiat surface. lIt is also possible, however, to arrange the individual portions of fibrous patternforming flat material so as to `at least partially overlap each other.

Thus, the fibrous pattern-forming elements or portions of fiat material are placed on the coherent base layer, i.e., the non-woven sheet of fibrous material in predetermined arrangements or designs.

The entire structure, namely the non-woven sheet of fibrous tmaterial and the rfibrous pattern-forming elements or portions of fiat material which are superposed thereon are then bonded together, for example by knitting or stitching on a knitting or stitch-knitting machine, or by needling on a needling machine or by fiber interlacing. Preferably, the entire structure is secured or bonded together by a system of parallel chain-stitches, or stitches or needled binding points, so that not only the fibrous pattern-forming portions of fiat material are secured to the non-woven sheet of fibrous material but, simultaneously, the coherence of the non-woven sheet of fibrous material is strengthened.

The term fiber interlacing as used herein, is intended to include such methods by which the entire textile structure, i.e., the entire decorative fabric is bonded together without the use of binding threads, i.e., only by a reciprocal interlacing of loops of fibers.

The coherent base layer or non-woven sheet of fibrous material serves not only as a supporting base for the fibrous pattern-forming elements or portions of flat material, but also as a distinctive background differentiating from the superposed fibrous pattern-forming lmaterial preferably by its color. The suitable arrangement and coloring of the superposed fibrous pattern-forming elements permits to achieve a plastic or threedimensional appearance notwithstanding the substantially planar configuration of the decorative fabric, and to create an impressive penetration and fading-in of colors which, it is believed, could not be achieved in prior `art decorative fabrics of this kind and which, if desired will give the decorative fabric of the present invention a tapestry-like appearance.

The novel features which are considered as characteristie for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claim-s. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is `a plan view of a decorative fabric according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates individual fibrous pattern-forming elements or portions of fiat material which, as will be described more fully below, trnay consist of fleece, threads, or other fibrous structures;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 corresponds to FIG. 3 but additionally shows woven fabric 23 attached to the face of the decorative fabric which is opposite to the face formed in part by the decorative layer; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the decorative fabric of FIG. l, showing chain stitches 2.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be seen that the non-woven decorative textile fabric shown in FIG. 1 comprises a eece or non-woven continuous fabric 1 to which are attached by a system of parallel chain stitches 2 a planar decorative design composed of fibrous material and representing a little cottage 3 with a garden 4, a tree 5, a path 6, and the sun 7. The color of fleece 1, for instance, may 'be blue. The decorative structure superposed and attached to the fleece 1 consist of three types of pattern-forming elements, namely of yarn, slubbing, and a poriton of the pattern-forming fibrous material consists of fieece. Thus, the little cottage 3 is composed of elements 8-16 which are cut from fleece or nonwoven fabric or -felt of different colors. For instance element 8 may be white, element 9 black, and elements 10-15 of brown color. Chimney smoke is represented by black yarns 17. The contour lines of the cottage 3 consist of black yarn 17. Tree 5 comprises a portion 18 formed of green fleece and a portion 19 formed of brown slubbing. The portion 20 of the pattern is formed of grey fieece and serves to illustrate the path 6. Sun 7 is represented by a suitably cut portion of yellow fleece 21 and yellow yarns 22 representing the sun rays. The different colors are indicated in the attached drawing by differences in the hatching of the various elements.

Fibrous pattern-forming elements 21 and 22 are placed side-byside on the coherent 'base layer 1, whereas, for example, fibrous pattern-forming elements 12 and 1-3 are superposed on fibrous pattern-forming element 8. The fibrous pattern-forming element 19 is superposed upon another fibrous element 17.

Furthermore, decorative fabrics according to the present invention and as described above, which comprise the fibrous fleece or non-woven sheet of fibrous material as base layer and the fibrous pattern-forming flat elements or materials superposed and secured thereto, may be reinforced by having a woven Xtextile material (not shown) secured to the other, non-decorated face of the non-woven sheet of fibrous material.

The selection of specific fibrous pattern-forming elements and of their color shades will depend on the decorative effect or the type of illustration which is to be created. It is of course also possible within the scope of the present invention, to achieve, for instance, illustrative and decorative effects of the decorative fabric illustrated in FIG. 1 by using other types or another combination of fibrous pattern-forming elements.

In a very simple embodiment, the decorative fabric according to the present invention will comprise a nonwoven sheet of lfibrous material Iand a single fibrous patternforming element or material portion secured to one face thereof. However, it is equally possible within the scope of the present invention to provide more complex substantially planar decorative fabrics than that shown in FIG. 1, by a suitable arrangement and combination of a variety of fibrous pattern-forming fiat materials on the face of the non-woven sheet of fibrous material.

Thus, according to the present invention, in a novel, simple and relatively inexpensive manner, practically any desired configuration or artistic conception of a decorative fabric can be provided, practically unrestrained by mechanical limitations. The decorative fabric according to the present invention can be easily produced with the help of conventional machinery in a simple, fast and relatively inexpensive manner.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention there is superposed upon rthe decorative fabric described hereinabove an open-mesh material, such as a netting, which is then also secured to the non-woven base sheet of fibrous material, with the fibrous patternforming flat material or elements interposed between the base sheet of non-woven fibrous material and the netting.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A decorative textile fabric comprising, in com-bination, a continuous non-woven base layer of cohering individual textile fibers; decorative layer means composed of at least one fiat pattern-forming layer portion having an appearance contrasting with the appearance of said cohering individual textile fibers of which said continuous non-woven base layer consists, said decorative layer means being substantially thinner than said continuous nonwoven base layer and being superimposed on at least one face of said continuous non-woven base layer covering the same but partly so as 'to form a combined layer structure consisting of said continuous non-woven base layer and said superimposed decorative layer means partly covering said continuous non-woven base layer; and a plurality of connecting means extending through said combined layer structure from one face thereof to the other and distributed over the entire surface thereof so as to contract said combined layer structure composed of said continuous non-woven base layer and said decorative layer means over the entire surface thereof, said decorative layer means being so thin as to enable said plurality of connecting means to contract said combined layer structure rto a substantially equal thickness throughout and simultaneously form a substantially planar decorative textile sheet of improved coherence of said continuous nonwoven base layer `and said decorative layer :means secured to each other.

2. A decorative textile fabric as defined in claim 1, wherein `said connecting means consists essentially of rows of stitches of Ithread substantially uniformly distributed over the entire surface and passing through said continuous non-woven ibase layer and said superimposed decorative layer means, said rows of thread stitches being located so as to simultaneously attach that decorative layer means to said continuous non-woven base layer and to improve the coherence of the thus formed decorative textile fabric.

3. A decorative textile fabric as defined in claim 1, wherein said decorative layer means includes individu-al threads of fibrous material.

4. A decorative textile fabric as defined in claim 1,

wherein said decorative layer means includes at least one thin coherent layer of non-woven fibers.

5. A decorative textile fabric as defined in claim 1, wherein said connecting means consists of chain stitches.

6. A decorative textile fabric `as defined in claim 1, wherein said decorative layer means is superimposed on only one face of said continuous non-woven base layer.

7. A decorative textile fabric as defined in claim 6, and including a supporting woven fabric attached by said rows of thread stitches to the other face 0f said continuous non-woven base layer.

8. A decorative textile fabric as dened in claim 1, and including netting means attached to and superimposed upon the face of said decorative textile fabric formed in part by said decorative non-woven layer means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,558,866 10/ 1925 Greenstein 112-405 1,723,729 8/ 1929 Goldberg 161--50 X 1,741,620 12/1929 Fixler 112-439 X 2,498,077 2/195()I `Goldberg 112-402 2,624,967 1/1953 Phillippi 161--79 X 2,989,431 6/1961 Cole 161-151 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner. G. KRIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner. 

